


when you're living in a world that you don't understand / find a few good buddies, start a band

by intertwiningwords



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Band Fic, Best Friends, Friendship, Gen, Post Season 3, platonic sleepovers, smoking weed, starting a band au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22262914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intertwiningwords/pseuds/intertwiningwords
Summary: robin and steve are bored, in need of other friends, and both musically inclined. the obvious conclusion: start a band. steve is hesitant at first, but follows robin in her quest like the loyal friend he is. but, when a familiar face appears to audition, who knows what will happen?
Relationships: Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> i saw joe keery (who plays steve) and his band DJO in concert recently and it gave me a headcanon that steve can sing, and maya hawke (who plays robin) is also in a band, so i thought...what if steve and robin started a band? thus, this fic was born. duffer brothers, i’m available for hire any time.
> 
> more relationships/character tags will be added as the story progresses!! i already have a bit of chapter 2 written, so look for more coming soon!!
> 
> dedicated to my friend A who helped me come up with parts of this story and who has been really supportive as i’ve been forming this idea xoxo

It was no secret that Robin was quite musically inclined. She had been involved in the music department throughout her years in the Hawkin’s school district, and Steve could remember the picture of little Robin Buckley swinging her flute case as she walked down the hall.

And, honestly, Steve and his friends had probably laughed and whispered about her choppy haircut and the zit on her chin.

But a lot had changed since they were in middle school, and the two had become quite the inseparable pair since their days working at Scoops.

And while everyone knew that Robin’s ears were“little geniuses”, it was pretty much a secret that Steve shared that talent of hers. Well, an inclination for music was not exactly a talent that young boys were praised for. More often, it led to them being bullied, just like the boys from band class who Robin had befriended and even defended from the harsh words of Steve’s friends.

Tunes just seemed to stick in his head easily, and he had a pretty good sense of pitch, too. He only ever sung by himself, in the car, or when he was home alone and in the shower.

However, give him a joint to smoke, a sleepover with his best friend, and play an awesome record, and it seemed that he could be made to belt out a few lines of a Belinda Carlisle song.

“No way,” Robin had drawled, eyes widening a little. “Harrington can  _ sing? _ ”

Feeling his face heat up, Steve easily deflected his embarrassment into an eye-roll. “I can carry a tune, so what?”

“That was totally more than carrying a tune. You sounded, dare I say it...good.”

“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds like I never do  _ anything _ ‘good.”

She gave him an innocent smile. “Well, you can barely put movies back in the right spot at the store, so forgive me for being surprised.”

He tossed the empty box of rolling papers at her head, and she easily dodged it with a laugh.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! But seriously, now you have to sing in the car with me all the time. I’m talking Broadway-quality duets on the drive to work.”

“No way, you are not turning me into a theatre kid,” Steve laughed. “If you want to sing musicals, go hang out with Tammy Thompson.”

He gave her a wink, and she hit him over the head with a pillow.

“Shut up!”

“Aw, c’mon. You guys could do a romantic duet, with the dance number and all!”

Her cheeks a rare shade of red, Robin continued to throw all the pillows on her bed at him. “Fuck off! You don’t even think she can sing anyway!”

Steve grinned. “Oh, but you do?”

Robin glared at him, which gave him all the answers that he needed, another laugh pouring from his lips.

The record had ended somewhere in the middle of their conversation, leaving them in a peaceful quiet, and they’d run out of weed and rolling papers as well. It was nearing one in the morning, and so the two of them set to work picking up the pillows that Robin had strewn across the floor.

Steve shed his jeans and traded them for sweatpants, and Robin tiptoed to the bathroom to scrub off the mascara and eyeliner that had smudged in dark splotches around her eyes.

The two of them fell asleep in her bed, and Steve’s last thought before drifting off was a small hope that his little secret would be forgotten by the morning.

***

Steve awoke the next morning to the sound of Robin humming in the shower, and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced at her alarm clock—they had exactly an hour before their shifts started.

With a small groan, he rolled onto his back, the idea of getting out of bed too painful for him to bear.

However, Robin quickly came back into the room, half-dressed in her work polo and underwear, a towel wrapped around her hair. “Rise and shine, dingus,” she said cheerily (much _ too _ cheerily for an early hour).

Begrudgingly, Steve clambered out of bed and began trying to fix his hair in her mirror.

He gave a fond smile in her direction as he watched her pull on a pair of mismatched socks, while simultaneously searching for a tube of mascara on her dresser.

“You gonna sing your heart out in the car with me, Sinatra?” she asked when she caught his eye, a teasing smile on her face.

He huffed, scanning her floor for the sight of his jeans. “I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”

She noticed his searching gaze and kicked his pants towards him, the smirk still curling her lips. “No way, José. I could never forget a new piece of blackmail against my best friend.”

He flipped her off reflexively, and she immediately blew back a very sarcastic kiss.

Once they were both dressed, they headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Mrs. Buckley had kindly left them both some coffee and toast, which they quickly scarfed down before heading out to the car.

Robin immediately took control of the radio, as usual, fiddling with the knobs until she found something that she was satisfied with—a Joan Jett song, unsurprisingly—and propped her feet up on the dashboard.

“C’mon, Stevie, sing along!” she said, before beginning to do so herself.

And, despite the blush that rose on his cheeks as he did so, he started to sing, too, because it was impossible to say no to Robin.

_ “I hate myself for loving you / Can't break free from the things that you do _

_ I wanna walk but I run back to you / That's why I hate myself for loving you” _

By the time they arrived at work, they’d had three pretty successful duets along to the radio, and Robin was beaming as she closed the car door and skipped into the video store.

***

“We should start a band,” Robin said, a joint balanced between her fingers.

Steve snorted. “You can’t have a band with two people, dumbass.”

“You could with three.”

“And who’s gonna be the third person, huh? Keith?”

Rolling her eyes, Robin scooted closer and draped herself over Steve’s lap. “No way, dingus. We see enough of him. And, besides, I think he’s trying to get with me.”

“I tried to get with you, and you still want me in your band,” he pointed out, smiling down at her.

“Yeah, because you’re not a fucking creep.”

“Aw, Robin, I’m touched.”

“Don't let it go to your head, Harrington.”

Steve snatched the joint from her hand and took a drag for himself, coughing lightly when he was finished. “Okay, so if not Keith, who? We don’t have any other friends, unless you want Dustin to be our frontman.”

“We hold auditions, dummy! As good of a set of pipes as Dustin has, I doubt we’d be taken seriously if we had a kid as our lead singer.”

Steve laughed, another puff of smoke pooling from his mouth. “You say that like we’ll be taken seriously at all.”

Robin hit his chest lightly with the back of her hand. “C’mon, have some faith, Stevie. You still play drums?”

“Huh?”

“In third grade, when they made us all try out for band. You played drums, and you were actually pretty good.”

“I didn’t think anyone remembered that,” he admitted. “I haven’t played since, but I could give it a shot.”

Conveniently, Robin’s father had his old drum set in the basement, collecting dust, and one request from Robin had him gladly pulling it out for the two of them to have their fun.

Steve, still a bit high and very excited to play around with the drumsticks he’d been appointed took a seat on the stool, nibbling on his bottom lip as he adjusted pieces of equipment, before banging out random rhythms, a giddy smile stretched across his face.

“Can’t you ever be serious?” Robin asked, but she was grinning, too.

“I can,” he replied. “But this is  _ fun _ .”

She nibbled on her bottom lip, leaning back against the wall. “Do you think this is stupid? Like, do you think I’m crazy for actually wanting to do this?”

He set the drumsticks down and looked up her with his best ‘serious-best-friend’ face. “I think you’re crazy all the time, dude,” he began, and she flipped him off. “Wait, let me finish! I think you have a lot of crazy ideas, but this is one of the normal ones. I think it sounds fun. If you really want to try this, I’m willing.”

Her expression softened, and she walked over to where he sat and pulled him in for a hug, knocking into the symbol as she did so, sending a clang through the room and making the two of them burst out laughing.

“Help me draw up some audition posters?” she asked.

“Only if I can have some of your mom’s cookies as a reward.”

“Deal.”


	2. two.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> steve and robin hold auditions for their band, and a familiar face comes to audition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, i hope you enjoy the second chapter!! sorry it took some time.

Robin had been putting audition flyers up around town for about a week, and the day had finally come.

Steve had his doubts, but chose to keep his mouth shut for her sake, realizing her genuine excitement towards the whole idea, and not wanting to crush her spirits.

She set up her garage with a “judge table” for her and Steve, and a little “stage” which was just a long block of wood in front of the table.

“Nervous?” Steve asked.

“A little,” Robin replied. “But mostly excited.”

“Good, good. Me too.”

Robin turned and smiled softly at him. “Thank you for humoring me with all this. I know it isn’t exactly your cup of tea.”

He shook his head fondly, draping an arm around her shoulders. “No need to thank me. Just promise to stay my best friend, and I’ll put up with all of your crazy ideas. Oh, and keep feeding me, and getting me high, and saving me from crazy Russians.”

She leaned against his chest. “I promise.”

“Excuse me?”

The two of them jolted apart at the sound of a new voice. They looked towards the source of the voice, and once Steve realized who it was, it took all of his willpower to not burst out laughing.

In the entrance to Robin’s garage, a guitar case by her side, stood none other than Tammy Thompson, the girl whom Robin had been in love with since middle school.

Steve hopped to his feet, offering her a huge grin. “Hey, Tammy! Great to see you.”

She smiled back, warm and genuine. “You too, Steve. Hey, Robin!”

Robin looked up at the two of them like a deer in headlights. “Hi,” she replied, enthusiasm masked entirely by her shock and embarrassment.

Grabbing her arm, Steve pulled her to her feet. “So, you here to audition?” he asked Tammy, biting back a chuckle when Robin dug her nails into his arm.

“Yessir! Why else would I have this?” she asked, holding up her guitar case.

“Awesome! Robin, isn’t it awesome to see her?” he asked.

“Yeah, totally!” Robin replied, subtly driving her elbow into Steve’s rib cage. “I thought you moved after graduation, Tammy.”

“Oh, yeah, I was going to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, but it didn’t really work out the way I hoped it would. I came home after the first semester. I guess city life just isn’t for me!”

“Well, we’re glad to have you here,” Steve said, striding over to the judge’s table and sitting down.

Robin followed him, her gaze fixed on her feet.

It was an adorably rare sight to see her so flustered, and Steve was kind of selfishly relishing in it. Not in a cruel way, of course, just in a teasing best friend sort of way.

Tammy took out her acoustic guitar and began to make sure it was properly tuned. “So, when did you two start this thing?” she asked.

“Like, a week ago,” Steve admitted.

She laughed. “Well, no problem. Perfection doesn’t have a definitive time period, after all.”

Robin giggled, and Tammy caught her eye, smiling.

Robin’s freckled cheeks turned pink, and Steve spoke up quickly. “Ready?”

Tammy nodded. “Sure thing. I’m gonna sing Woman, by John Lennon,” she introduced, looking incredibly comfortable with her guitar and preparing to sing, probably due to all the talent shows she’d entered in her childhood.

“Woman, I can hardly express / My mixed emotions at my thoughtlessness

After all, I'm forever in your debt / And woman, I will try to express

My inner feelings and thankfulness / For showing me the meaning of success”

As Tammy sang, Steve was surprised to hear how much she had improved since they were kids, probably from taking singing lessons, and his joke of her sounding like a muppet he’d previously made to Robin felt entirely incorrect in that moment.

He snuck a sideways glance at Robin, who was watching Tammy intently, her eyes a little wide, pupils dilated, and her lips were curled upwards. She watched her like a mesmerized child seeing fireworks for the first time (which brought Steve’s mind to El, who thought they were the coolest damn things ever). 

It was really fucking cute, and Steve couldn’t wait to tease her about it later.

Tammy finished the last lines of the song, her strumming coming to a halt, and Steve gave an approving whoop, clapping his hands together a few times, while Robin chose to drum on the table as her form of applause.

Tammy curtsied jokingly, her dark curls falling in front of her eyes.

After scribbling her phone number down on a piece of paper from Robin’s notebook, Tammy bid them goodbye.

Once she was fully out the garage door, Steve grabbed Robin’s arm.

“Dude, she was so good.”

“I know!” Robin cried, then buried her face in her hands.

“We have to let her join.”

“I can’t!”

“Why?”

Robin peeked up at him from between her fingers. “I’ll make a goddamn fool of myself, that’s why! I could barely look her in the eye.”

Sighing, Steve patted her shoulder. “You were fine. But hey, we’ll see who else shows up, and if she’s really the best one, then we have to pick her. Deal?”

“Ugh. Fine.”

***

Tammy did happen to be the best person to show up, because she was the  _ only _ person that showed up. They tried not to take that fact too personally; maybe all the musically inclined people in Hawkins were just shy.

“Well, you know what this means,” Steve said.

Robin hung her head. “Call her, I guess.”

“What’s wrong? This was your idea, you know.”

“I just...I’m sick of having crushes on girls who will never feel the same,” she said. “I thought I was done with all that, but Tammy is...She’s just so pretty, and soft, and...It sent me right back to middle school Robin who screamed into her pillow because a girl like Tammy would never like a girl like me...Let alone a girl at all,” she replied.

Steve’s expression softened, reaching out to grab her hand. “Hey, look at me.”

Begrudgingly, she did.

“If it’s really too much for you, we’ll tell Tammy we found someone else, and we’ll scout someone out ourselves. We can always have Dustin fill in so we can practice. But, I think Tammy is great, and you didn’t make a fool of yourself at all. I could only tell you were flustered because I’m your friend. Plus, maybe being around her will help you get over her, and see her as a friend. Or, maybe, something more could happen.”

Robin laughed softly. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious! She did pick a song about a woman to sing,” he pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean anything! Maybe she just likes the song!”

Steve rolled his eyes. “If you say so.”

She reached over and ruffled his hair. “Thanks, Steve. That actually did make me feel a little better. So, do you wanna call her?”

“Let’s play hard to get and call her tomorrow, since we’re so swamped with auditions, we couldn’t possibly make a decision tonight,” he replied, grinning.

She grinned back. “Wanna go watch  _ Beetlejuice _ for the fifth time?”

“Absolutely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading, i hope you enjoyed it!!
> 
> kudos & comments are extremely appreciated :)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed!! kudos and comments are appreciated and encouraged :) xoxo


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